Group Decision Making: How to Be Effective and Efficient
Undoubtedly, if you have ever read about group decision making, you have come across a concept known as “groupthink”. The term “groupthink” was coined by Irving Janis in his 1972 book Victims of Groupthink: A Psychological Study of Foreign-Policy Decisions and Fiascoes. He used events in foreign policy to examine our tendency to arrive at less than ideal group decisions.
The main cause? A failure to think critically in a group setting is fueled by our desire to conform to a majority and our hesitation to re-evaluate initially rejected solutions. Decisions, in this case, happen too quickly without proper analysis. The anecdote? Encourage every member to critically evaluate and voice concerns, encourage dissension, and as a leader, remain humble and open to criticism.
Yet, as many higher education professionals can surely attest to, I have also witnessed the other challenge in group decision making. In academia, engaging in critical dissent is encouraged (reviewed by Jetten & Hornsey, 2014), and while this is a fine attribute, practically, this can mean that we sometimes spend so much time expressing our thoughts, opinions, and concerns trying to reach consensus and we somehow never arrive at decisions in a timely manner.
Groups can thus hinder the ability to make decisions efficiently and effectively. But the reality is, we are often working in groups in today’s world. Interestingly, the research suggests that as employees, our time in meetings has increased over the years, and that ineffective meetings are associated with reduced well-being (Rogelberg et al., 2006). In other words, in 2019, we are spending more time in meetings that we used to, and ineffective meetings can make us miserable at work and waste our time.
So, how can we balance both the desire to avoid groupthink, but also a desire for effective group decision-making in meetings?
Here a few principles that may help:
References
Agarwal R., Sands, D.Z., & Schneider, J.D. (2010). Quantifying the economic impact of communication inefficiencies in US hospitals. Journal of Healthcare Management, 55(4), 265-282.
Jetten, J., & Hornsey, M. J. (2014). Deviance and dissent in groups. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 461-485.
Malouff, J. M., Calic, A., McGrory, C. M., Murrell, R. L., & Schutte, N. S. (2012). Evidence for a needs-based model of organizational-meeting leadership. Current Psychology, 31(1), 35-48.
Maxfield D., Grenny J., McMillan R., Patterson K., & Switzler A. (2005). Silence kills: Seven crucial conversations for healthcare. Vital Smarts Retrieved from: https://www.silenttreatmentstudy.com/silencekills.
Rogelberg, S.G., Scott, C., & Kello, J. (2007). The science and fiction of meetings. MIT Sloan Managementt Review. Retrieved from: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-science-and-fiction-of-meetings/
Sunstein, C. R., & Hastie, R. (2015). Wiser: Getting beyond groupthink to make groups smarter. Harvard Business Press.
About the Author
Yasmine Kalkstein
Yasmine is currently an Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where she also serves as the Lead Integrator in the Character Integration Advisory Group. As a Fulbright Scholar, she spent a year working at the Medical Decision Making Center at Ono Academic College in Israel. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from University of Minnesota and her BA in Biopsychology from University of Virginia. She is interested in the fields of character and leadership development, medical decision making, education, and human-centered design.
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